36. BLAKE
BLAKE
Me: You have a meeting near my penthouse today, right?
Jace: What, do you have a tracker on my phone? #CreepyAF #StalkerVibes
Me: You mentioned it last week. Need a favor.
Jace: Here we go. Can’t wait to hear this. What, did you forget your favorite shoes? Or did you run out of hair product for that meticulously disheveled look?
Me: Tessa’s at my place.
Jace: Really? *smirking emoji*
Me: Not like that, dude. I’m helping her with something. And wipe that smirk off your face. I can see it through the phone.
Jace: I bet you are “helping” her. With your extensive “skills.” Is that what the kids call it these days?
Me: She’s not responding to me though. Can you check on her, please?
Jace: I’m sure she’s fine. Probably saw your name on her screen and decided to preserve her sanity.
Me: Won’t be able to focus on work until I know that for a fact. She hasn’t answered her cell in hours. I’m getting worried.
Jace: Don’t you have an employee or neighbor you can ask? This is a mile in the wrong direction for me. Some of us have actual work to do, not just playing doctor.
Me: Not friendly with neighbors.
Jace: You’re not friendly with anyone. That’s your personal brand.
Me: You gonna make me beg? Because I’ll send a voice memo of it and you can use it as your ringtone.
Jace: Fine. Jesus, you’re pushy. When I see her, I’m going to tell her to answer her fucking phone next time. Or invest in a better friend.
Me: Yell at her, and I’ll dislocate your teeth. And ruin your perfect smile for your next Forbes cover.
Jace: Your gratitude is overwhelming. Truly heartwarming. Is this how you speak to all your organ donors?
Me: Only the pretty ones. Text me when you see she’s in one piece.
Jace: Yes, Your Majesty. Anything else? Need me to pick up your dry cleaning while I’m playing errand boy?
TESSA
I didn’t hear the door open. Didn’t hear the man come into Blake’s penthouse and didn’t hear him come up behind me.
Reason being, I was blasting music while making Blake blueberry cupcakes.
It was the least I could do to say thank you, right?
So, I’d sent the chef home and planned to have this all cleaned up long before Blake returned from his shift.
I was swaying my hips and singing loudly to the music while stirring the batter in an oversize silver bowl when it happened.
A hand came down on my shoulder from behind.
Instinct took over. I spun and slammed the silver bowl on top of his head so hard that he wobbled and dropped to the ground, where blueberry batter splattered all over the floor, the pristine cabinets, and the countertops.
The guy looked vaguely familiar. Handsome, with piercing green eyes now narrowed in pain, broad shoulders straining against a business suit that looked like it cost a fortune, but was now stained in blueberries and what appeared to be blood.
Grabbing a butcher knife, I held it out in front of me, my heart pounding in my ears louder than the bass from the speakers.
“Jesus,” the guy snarled, wiping batter from his eyes to reveal a murderous glower.
“Get out.” My voice was steadier than I felt.
He glared at me, rubbing a now-bleeding spot on the side of his head. Based on the amount of blood seeping between his manicured fingers, the guy could use some stitches. His zillion-dollar watch was now splattered with purple goo too.
Had he lifted it from his last break-in?
“Why the fuck did you hit me?”
“News flash: women don’t want to get assaulted by home invaders. Leave, or I’ll cut your balls off.” I gestured with the knife to emphasize my point.
Blood dripped over the batter in a grotesque kaleidoscope of tans, crimson, and purples.
How dare the guy look angry at me for defending myself!
“That’s the last time I’m doing Blake a favor,” the guy grumbled, getting to his feet with as much dignity as one could muster while covered in blueberry batter.
I froze. “Blake?”
“Just perfect.” The guy pulled his hand away, which was soaked in blood. “Now I’m going to have to stop and get stapled up. And change my damn suit.”
“Blake sent you?” The knife lowered slightly in my grip.
“How the hell did you think I got inside? Magic?”
Well, I hadn’t had time to think actually. Just react.
“I’ll be sure to tell him you’re just fine.” The guy grabbed a handful of paper towels, wadded them up, and pressed them against his head wound.
“He sent you to check on me,” I realized.
God, of course he did. My phone was charging in the bedroom; he was probably trying to get ahold of me, and now that I was looking, I did recognize blueberry face.
“You’re Jace,” I realized.
One of Ryker’s college buddies, one I hadn’t seen in ages. Maybe if I’d bumped into him in a coffee shop, I would have recognized him faster than, you know, in the middle of fight or flight.
“I’m so sorry. I thought you were …” Not important. “Here, let me help you with that.”
“I got it,” he snarled, holding his palm out to me to keep me at bay. “Next time, answer your phone, okay? And maybe turn down the music so you can hear someone announcing themselves.”
“I’m sorry,” I called out after him as he walked toward the elevator, leaving a trail of blueberry footprints on Blake’s pristine hardwood floors.
But he just held up his hand like, Whatever .
I sighed, staring at this mess. Blueberry-staining batter mixed with a little blood was splattered all over the ground and walls. Blake was going to be furious. And somehow, I’d managed to assault one of the most powerful businessmen in the city with breakfast ingredients.
BLAKE
I opened the emergency room door to find Jace. Blood spilled down his temple and soaked his shirt—a custom Armani embellished with purple stains visible beneath the blood.
“What the fuck happened?”
The nurse immediately shot her eyes to me. I wasn’t using my doctor voice; I was using my brotherhood voice.
“What happened is, it turns out, your houseguest is just fine. So was I until I checked on her. I have a board meeting in three hours, Blake. I’m in the middle of acquiring a company worth half a billion, and instead of prepping my strategy, I’m sitting in your ER with my brain possibly leaking out. ”
“Tessa did this to you?” I couldn’t keep the hint of pride from my voice.
“If you ever have an intruder, you should send her in to protect you. She’s five foot nothing and nearly decapitated me with a mixing bowl. A mixing bowl, Blake.” He winced as he shifted the ice pack. “I have security teams that couldn’t react that fast.”
“What did you do, sneak up on her?”
Jace’s eyes narrowed. “You’re taking her side? I’m the victim here. I have plenty of enemies: corporate rivals, that senator whose company I took from him. Yet it’s your petite baker who managed to assault me.”
“You must’ve scared her.”
“I’m showing up with a bloody head, and that’s what you have to say to me? My PR team is already drafting a statement about a ‘minor household accident’ because I can’t exactly tell the Wall Street Journal that I got my ass handed to me by a cupcake chef.”
“Oh, you’re fine. That head of yours is too hard to do any real damage.”
“Am I still stunningly handsome?” He pulled the ice pack away from his face, revealing a nasty gash and impressive swelling, noting my grimace. “Don’t lie to me, Doctor. I need to know if I should cancel my Forbes photo shoot next week.”
“Can they reschedule?”
“Great.”
“Don’t worry; once the swelling goes down, I’m sure you’ll be beautiful again. At least it’ll make it easier to tell you and Grayson apart now.”
His identical twin.
“So, this will scar.”
“Too early to tell.”
“Great.”
“So, she was okay?”
“You’re still worried about her ?” He pointed to the gash on his head. “I’m bleeding out in your ER while she’s happily baking away like some disturbing Betty Crocker.”
“You’ll be fine. But do me a favor.”
“Another one? Oh, sure. Sign me up. What’ll it be this time, a compound fracture to my arm?”
“Don’t mention this to the guys.”
He cocked his head, wincing at the movement. “Ryker’s going to kill you if you date his sister.”
“I’m not dating her.”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “Just get me out of here. Fast.”
“I’ll call a plastic surgeon down so you look just as handsome as before.”
“Yeah, well, watch your ass, Morrison. If she can do this with a mixing bowl, you should keep her away from your knives.” Jace adjusted his ruined tie with his free hand.
“And for the record, when you end up murdered in your sleep by Kitchen Ninja Barbie, I’m telling the detective everything.
Right after I send flowers to your funeral with a card that says, I told you so . ”